The Unholy Roman Empire & the Fear of Hemp

The Unholy Roman Empire and the Fear of Hemp

The unholy alliance between politics and the church, first allied under the banner of the Holy Roman Empire in the 4th century, gave each of them even more power and influence over the common people, with the previously underground church leaders now able to wield power in political corridors, and the political rulers gaining influence over the ignorant, but potentially rebellious, common folk that the church leaders controlled with their self-proclaimed superior insight to the scriptures.

The scriptures of course, were written in a language that the common folk did not understand and were not allowed to learn, leaving the few priests who could read it free to interpret the Bible in whichever way they pleased, which they did for about 1,200 years. These priests had become corrupted by the political powers and the people were subjected to threats of eternal hellfire to keep them in line, something not actually indicated in the Bible when viewed intelligently. The context of the fire referred to in the Bible is an end, a final destruction with no hope of a return or resurrection, and there is no mention of God having anybody burned forever. Many people today are still taken in by this myth, despite the modern availability of better and clearer translations, not to mention the slow development of our collective common sense.

The common people though, of those Holy Roman times, were banned from learning the language of the Bible and even written language itself was banned. To maintain the ignorance of the common folk and thus their power over them, the authorities and monasteries banned and kept the secrets of hemp for themselves, afraid of the consequences of the common folk gaining access to paper and lamp oil with which to educate themselves.